Record flooding swamps the South
Rivers continued to rise to record levels in parts of Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi on Monday, flooding thousands of homes.
Flood warnings were in effect across the region as many rivers remained dangerously high. Emergency officials said more than 4,958 homes in Louisiana were damaged by flooding, according to the Associated Press.
The flooding is the result of a slow-moving storm that dumped up to 2 feet of rain on the region last week. Though the storm is gone, a massive amount of water is still moving through swollen streams and rivers on its way to the Gulf of Mexico.
At least four deaths have been reported in Louisiana, the AP reported, and the National Guard has rescued nearly 3,300 people.
Flooding along the Sabine River, which forms part of the border between Louisiana and Texas, has been especially bad. The river has already overtaken several parts of the town of Deweyville, Texas. Propane tanks floated in front of homes and mailboxes peeked out of the water.
“We’re just telling folks that this is going to be a record flood — I have to emphasize,” Newton County Judge Truman Dougharty said.
The river has risen to more than 31 feet in Deweyville, isolating the small town of about 1,200, the Weather Channel reported. Every home in the town was expected to be flooded.
The all-time flood record for Deweyville (32 feet) was set in 1884, but the level is projected to rise to 35.2 feet by Tuesday, the National Weather Service said.
In Bossier Parish, La., at least 400 homes were flooded. One part of the parish appeared to be miles and miles of a peaceful lake, broken up only by a few tree lines here and there, and every once in a while a house.
“I’ve been here 21 years and I’ve never seen it this bad,” public works director Mark Coutee said.